The present invention relates generally to the field of medical imaging and more specifically to the evaluation of features of interest in image data acquired by different imaging modalities.
Non-invasive imaging broadly encompasses techniques for generating images of the internal structures or regions of an object or person that are otherwise inaccessible for visual inspection. One of the best known uses of non-invasive imaging is in the medical arts where these techniques are used to generate images of organs and/or bones inside a patient which would otherwise not be visible. One class of medical non-invasive imaging techniques is based on the generation of structural images of internal structures which depict the physical arrangement, composition, or properties of the imaged region. Examples of such modalities include X-ray based techniques, such as CT and tomosynthesis. In these X-ray based techniques, the attenuation of X-rays by the patient is measured at one or more view angles and this information is used to generate two-dimensional images and/or three-dimensional volumes of the imaged region.
Other modalities used to generate structural images may include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or ultrasound. In MRI, the tissues undergoing imaging are subjected to strong magnetic fields and to radio wave perturbations which produce measurable signals as tissues of the body align and realign themselves based upon their composition. These signals may then be used to reconstruct structural images that reflect the physical arrangement of tissues based on these different gyromagnetic responses. In ultrasound imaging, differential reflections of acoustic waves by internal structures of a patient are used to reconstruct images of the internal anatomy.
Other types of imaging modalities include functional imaging modalities, which may include nuclear medicine, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET). These modalities typically detect, either directly or indirectly, photons or gamma rays generated by a radioactive tracer introduced into the patient. Based on the type of metaboland, sugar, or other compound into which the radioactive tracer is incorporated, the radioactive tracer is differentially accumulated in different parts of the patient and measurement of the resulting gamma rays can be used to localize and image the accumulation of the tracer. For example, tumors may disproportionately utilize glucose relative to other tissues such that the tumors may be detected and localized using radioactively tagged deoxyglucose.
Typically, image acquisition events that use different modalities are administered relatively independently of one another. For example, current processes may involve human intervention or interactions between acquisitions of first, second and/or subsequent images (using the same or a different imaging modality) so that initial images can be reviewed and evaluated by a clinician to provide parameters, such as volumes or planes of interest, for subsequent image acquisitions. This tends to prolong the imaging process, resulting in lower efficiency and patient throughput. In addition, such labor intensive processes may result in patient discomfort and increase in the cost of the imaging procedure.